Facebook brings Stories and new camera features to its main app

New Delhi, March 29 -- Facebook is bringing Snapchat-like Stories feature to the main Facebook app. It was earlier spotted on the beta app, and is now rolling out worldwide for all users. Facebook started copying Snapchat's USPs with the rollout of Instagram Stories back in August, followed by Messenger and WhatsApp. With the new update, Facebook and its other platforms Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp, offer the same feature uniformly.
Facebook has been trying to kill Snapchat's momentum by bringing its core feature to all of its platforms. While Instagram Stories is a success with 150 million users already, the same can't be said about its other platforms. Facebook saw huge backlash from WhatsApp users for ditching the text-based Status in favour of Snapchat-style Stories.
Apart from Stories, Facebook is also bringing new in-app camera features similar to Messenger. Facebook users can now swipe right from the News Feed or tap on the camera icon on the top left to access the camera feature. These allow users to add style effects and art filters to their photos or videos. In a press release, Facebook says that it is also "partnering with brands to create masks for upcoming movies Alien: Covenant, Despicable Me 3, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Power Rangers, Smurfs: The Lost Village and Wonder Woman."
Like Instagram Direct, Facebook also has a direct feature that allows users to share individual photos or videos with specific friends. With Direct, Facebook contacts can view the shared image or video once and replay it or revert with a reply. Like Stories, Facebook Direct will also exist for only 24 hours, and the conversation will end after the stipulated time period. At F8 2016, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared his plans for transforming the platform into a video-friendly social network. With new Facebook camera, Stories and Direct, the company is making the transition more user-friendly.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Digit.